WEBVTT DARTMOUTH, STUDENTS OPEN EDTHE MUCH ANTICIPATED ENVELOPES.REPORTER: THIS IS THE STEP WHERETHEY LEARN WHERE THEY'RE DOINGTHEIR NEXT LEVEL OF TRAINING,WHICH IS RESIDENCY TRAINING, SOTHEY'LL BECOME MORE SPECIALIZEDAT THAT POINT, SO IT'S A BIGSTEP IN THEIR CAREER PATH.>> STANFORD.REPORTER: MATCH DAY IS HELDEVERY THIRD FRIDAY IN MARCH.>> SO ALL OF THE AVAILABLERESIDENCY PROGRAMS HAVE A NUMBEROF SLOTS, ALL THE AVAILABLEMEDICAL STUDENTS APPLY TO THOSE,THERE'S AN INTERVIEW PROCESS,THERE'S A BEHIND THE SCENESMATCHING THAT GOES ON, AND THENTODAY THEY OPEN THEIR ENVELOPEAND LEARN WHERE THEY MATCH.REPORTER: MAKING IT MORESTRESSFUL, STUDENTS SOMETIMESFACE THE CHALLENGE OF BEINGSEPARATED FROM A SPOUSE ORPARTNER.>> HE HAD ALREADY SIGNED ONTOWORK IN NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORKOR BOSTON, SO I WAS TRYING TO BEIN THE SAME CITY.ANY WAY IT IS MY TOP CHOICE, SOI'M GLAD THAT IT WORKED OUT.REPORTER: LIAM WILL BESPECIALIZING IN FAMILY MEDICINEAT THE CONTRAS COSTA PROGRAM INCALIFORNIA.>> I CAN'T GET ENOUGH EMOTIONOUT TO DESCRIBE HOW EXCITED IAM.REPORTER: SHE WAS SECOND LAST TOBE CALLED, SHE ASKED HER BESTFRIEND TO JOIN HER.>> WE WERE LAST, AND WE SAID,YOU KNOW, WE JUST GO TOGETHERBECAUSE WE'RE LAST.I FEEL LIKE IT WAS ALMOSTPERFECT ENDING TO SUCH A JERN I.>> AND IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL TOSHARE THAT WITH HER.BECAUSE SO MANY TIMES IN MEDICALSCHOOL IT WAS REALLY JUST THETWO OF US.REPORTER: THE DEAN SAYS HE'SVERY PROUD OF HIS GRADUATINGCLASS, AS THEY ARE ALL MOVINGONTO PRESTIGIOUS MEDICALINSTITUTIONS ACROSS THE COUNTRY

Fourth-year medical students at Dartmouth College and across the country learned Friday where they will go to complete their residencies.

Many of the Geisel School of Medicine students who took part in match day said the event is bigger than graduation.

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"This is the step where they learn where they are doing their next level of training, which is residency training," interim Dean Duane Compton said. "They will become more specialized, so it is a big step in their career path."

Match day is held every third Friday in March.

"All of the available residency programs have a number of slots," Compton said. "All the available medical students apply to those. There is an interview process. There is a behind-the-scenes matching that goes on, and today, they open their envelope and learn where they match."

Making it more stressful, students sometimes face the challenge of being separated from a spouse or partner.

"He had already signed a job contract to work in New York City," student Sofie Leung said. "He could have worked in New York or Boston, so I was trying to be in the same city as him so he could keep his job. NYU was my top choice, so I am very glad that it worked out."

Liam Geurin said he plans to specialize in family medicine at Contra Costa Regional Medical Center in California.

"I can't get enough emotion out to describe how excited I am," he said. "That's been my No. 1 program for over a year."

Asia Peek was second to last to be called. As she was handed her envelope, she asked her best friend, Lovelee Brown, to join her.

"We were last, and we said immediately before we should just go up together, because we are last. Why not?" Peek said. "I feel like it was the most perfect ending to such a journey."

"It was so beautiful to share that with her, because so many times in medical school, it really was just the two of us," Brown said.

Compton said he's very proud of the graduating class as they move on to prestigious medical institutions across the country and Canada.